Book review: The Shattered Ones by Brigette Cromey

First off, here’s the book and its summary:

The Shattered Ones: Gabriel just wants to do his job and be left alone. The alien oppressors of his childhood may be gone, but their legacy of unearthly technology, nightmarish monsters, and ordinary people developing Shattered powers still lingers. With the violent past threatening to become a bloody present, Gabriel joins forces with the other members of his base–men and women of the Earth Defense Force who successfully pushed the xenos back into space eight years ago.

Seven veterans. One rookie. None of them ever had the families they dreamed of, but battle forges a bond stronger than blood. When the unthinkable happens, Gabriel must trust his newfound family, find his own courage, and embrace the truth he’s always known–that even the worst places and most broken people deserve someone who’s willing to fight for them.

My review:

Can I start off with a screech about how good this book was? Because this was a really good book.

A friend read this book and recommended it to me, saying how the main character Gabriel is very similar to my character Jayesh from After Atlantis. You know the type: the inexperienced kid, lonely, insecure, really wants to belong but doesn’t know how? Yeah, I’m a sucker for that kind of character. Also, it’s the aftermath of an alien invasion? It’s post apoc instead of dystopian? And also found family? Shut up and take my money.

It starts out as a military outpost in the desert outside of Tucson. The aliens are gone, but a gang called the Blood Angels has moved in and is using alien tech against the military and civilians. Gabriel is dispatch, stares at screens all day, but is always writing down the stories from the Shattered he’s working with. To him they’re superheroes, the super powered people who drove off the aliens. He’s also very good at what he does, and everyone in the base likes him, although he doesn’t know it. But he so, so badly wants to belong.

I wanted to hug him and wrap him in a soft blanket, except I know what happens to these kinds of characters and I was here for it.

I can’t really say what happens to Gabriel without substantial spoilers, but it’s exciting and fun, and there is substantial angst while fighting alien monsters, blowing up crap, and dealing with desert monsoon storms. It’s like all my sweet spots all in one book.

Honestly, the author was kinder to Gabriel than I would have been. He didn’t suffer nearly as much as I expected, and it has a good ending, although left open for more books. There’s some loose ends that need further books to explore (like all those stories he’s writing down at the end).

But overall, this is a fun book with a group of superpowered characters working together and becoming friends, like the best kind of supernatural TV show. It’s also inspired by XCOM 2, and I went OH, because I knew it was based on SOMEthing. I know a fanfic when I smell it because it has so much love poured into the characters. Highly recommend, will watch this author with great interest.

Check it out on Amazon. I am too lazy to turn this into an affiliate link.